News

COOPERSVILLE, Mich.(WZZM) -- A 14-year-old former Coopersville student has been identified as an accomplice in a "swatting" incident that put the school district on lockdown last week.

On Thursday, Sept. 4, a caller made a threat against Coopersville Public Schools, prompting lockdown procedure as a precaution. Authorities did not find any evidence of a threat at the schools.

The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office says the 14-year-old forwarded information about the schools to a person he met online, who made the calls. That other person has not yet been identified and may not even live in Michigan or the U.S.

A 54-year-old Pentwater man who visited Coopersville High School earlier that day has been cleared of any involvement in the incident.

COOPERSVILLE, Mich. (WZZM) -- The Ottawa County Prosecutor's Office has authorized a two-count juvenile petition against the 14-year-old identified in the investigation into the threat made against the Coopersville schools last week.

He's charged with false report of a felony and using a computer to commit a crime.

He was lodged at the Ottawa County Youth Home Thursday and will be seen by juvenile court authorities within 24 hours, according to Capt. Mark Bennett of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office.

MARNE, Mich. (WZZM) -- A driver who collided with another car while driving the wrong way on a highway in Marne on Friday was without a license at the time of the crash.

That's according to records from the Secretary of State.

The crash happened Friday afternoon, when police say 84 year old Leslie Laymon missed a turn on Ironwood Drive, and drove the wrong way up an exit ramp onto eastbound I-96.

Laymon's wife Donna died in the crash. Leslie Laymon and the two people in the other car, Donald and Shirley Vanhoeven, were taken to the hospital in critical condition.

The Laymons' neighbor, John Yonkers, says the couple didn't have any children, so he often helped them with things around the house before arranging services like Angel Care and Meals on Wheels for them.

MARNE, Mich. (WZZM) -- Emergency crews responding to a wrong-way crash had to close the freeway in Ottawa County Friday afternoon.

The crash was reported around 3:30 p.m. on eastbound I-96 between the Marne and Walker exits.

Emergency crews shut down both sides of the freeway; the eastbound side was closed at the Marne exit. The westbound side was closed at Fruit Ridge.

The freeway has been opened again, along with eastbound exit 24.

Authorities say 83-year-old Leslie Laymon from Grand Rapids was westbound on Ironwood Dr. when he failed to yield and missed a curve, going airborne over a berm, and continuing westbound onto eastbound exit 24. He drove the wrong way for about a thousand feet before crashing.

COOPERSVILLE, Mich. (WZZM) -- The threat that caused a lockdown at Coopersville Area Schools Thursday may have been a case of swatting, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department.

Friday morning, investigators said a person called in a threat from a cell phone with a blocked phone number. Capt. Mark Bennett said a suspect, who may have been in another state or country, claimed responsibility on Twitter.